Le Rio Cultural Space has been subjected to a series of restrictions and violations. According to its director, the institution was recently prevented from hosting several official cultural events, including the Carthage Film Festival, Carthage Theatre Days (JTC) and the Carthage Music Days, despite fulfilling all the required technical and organizational conditions. He stated that this exclusion forms part of a broader pattern of restrictions targeting the venue over the past year, directly affecting its cultural activities.
The director explained that Le Rio is an open cultural venue that welcomes associations, political parties, individuals, and a wide range of civil society and cultural actors without discrimination, and that this inclusive role has been central to the institution’s identity for many years. According to his testimony, the institution was deprived of the public funding allocated for its operation and management, significantly undermining its ability to meet its financial obligations, including the payment of technicians’ and employees’ salaries. He further reported that the institution has been subjected to administrative pressure from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, including attempts to restrict its activities by reducing the number of approved specifications (cahiers des charges) governing its operations. Since these specifications determine the range of activities the institution is authorized to carry out, reducing their number would necessarily limit the scope of its permitted activities.
He also stated that, in April 2025, the Public Prosecutor’s Office intervened to halt a “mock trial” event organized jointly by the Tunisian League for Human Rights LTDH) and Beity Association.
These measures form part of an ongoing pattern of administrative and financial restrictions. According to the institution, this included the cancellation of the 2025 operational and equipment grant on the grounds of alleged non-compliance with decisions issued by the General Inspectorate, despite the institution’s assertion that it had never received those decisions or the related correspondence, thereby depriving it of the opportunity to review them and exercise its right to respond. The institution also reported the closure of the café operating within the venue, which it considers to have directly affected its financial resources and the continuity of its activities.
In addition, the institution reported attempts to exclude Le Rio Cinema-Theatre from the programming of the Carthage Theatre Days and the Carthage Film Festival, despite having hosted these events in previous editions. It further referred to an inspection visit carried out by the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs that focused on the institution’s relationships with civil society organizations. The institution considers this to raise questions regarding the scope of the Inspectorate’s authority over a private cultural institution. The institution’s management also stated that it received a letter from the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs requesting that it review or reduce the number of approved specifications under which it operates. It responded by reaffirming the legality of its status and the multidisciplinary nature of its cultural activities. It further reported that payment of the 2026 operational and equipment grant was suspended even after the competent committee had approved its allocation, based on a tax classification that, according to the institution, does not accurately reflect the nature of its cultural activities or negate its identity as a theatre and cultural institution.
The management of Le Rio Cinema-Theatre considers that the cumulative effect of these measures constitutes an ongoing administrative campaign that has undermined the institution’s financial and administrative stability, limited its ability to continue its cultural activities and host civic and cultural initiatives, and therefore calls for access to all decisions and reports relied upon by the administration in adopting these measures, as well as the opportunity to exercise its rights of defense and appeal in accordance with legal guarantees.
